


Relationships Are About Compromise

by Anica



Series: Hanni-verse [15]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: 4+1, Cannibalism, Established Relationship, Except When Will Says No, Explicit Language, Fluff, Food is People, M/M, Post Mpreg, Will Knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-07
Packaged: 2018-01-07 21:54:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1124816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anica/pseuds/Anica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fill: </p>
<p>Will knows. Will even approves. But not always. 4+1 Where they argue about dinner. </p>
<p>Now, beta read and approved!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Relationships Are About Compromise

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, you read it right. Someone has given up their free time to fix my stories! All this is made possible by HixyStix! I owe it all to her! Any errors is because I wasn't listening to her corrections :P Thanks again HixyStix!
> 
> Prompt from IaBlMeanie, hope you like it!

*1* 

Will Graham was playing catch with his son in the park. They both had their gloves and were working on catching rather than throwing. Will was trying to figure which Little League team to sign his son up for the following year. He wanted his son to participate in group activities, something he had never been able to do. 

“Thirsty, Daddy,” Hanni told him, after he had missed a couple of balls. 

It was the first warm weekend of spring and their little family quickly determined it as a perfect opportunity for a picnic in the park. 

“Should we find Papa?” Will asked, taking off Hanni’s glove. 

From a distance, Will could see his lover in his burgundy shirt and a dark waistcoat, lying on his side, head supported in his hand and one knee propped up, as he read on their picnic blanket. Will couldn’t help the affectionate smile that rose at the sight. The well put together, ever elegant doctor liked nothing more than to stretch those longs legs out every chance he got. The sight never failed to stir all kinds of reactions in the younger man. He found it so appealing. 

Will must have been not the only one that thought so. A woman approached the doctor, a child a little younger than Hanni, holding her hand. She was in her late twenties and would be what Will would have considered as ‘fit’ since the yoga pants she wore left nothing to the imagination. 

Will watched them speak and Hannibal reached for something in the picnic basket. He handed over a stack of napkins to the grateful woman, who let go of the child to take them. The little boy reached for the appetizers Hannibal had set out. She quickly pulled the boy back and Will could see Hannibal offer some to the woman and the child. When she shook her head, Will was close enough to see the doctor’s face twitch with well hidden disapproval. 

Hanni let go of Will’s hand and made a run for the doctor. He threw his arms around the older man with a happy scream of “Papa!” Will was just close enough to hear Hannibal gently scold the boy about interrupting and the small apology. 

Will dropped on the blanket next to him, getting his first glance at the woman’s face. She was pretty, with almost no makeup and hair neatly pulled back in place. 

“Hi,” Will said, hoping it didn’t come off as awkward. 

It must have, though, because she gave him a thin smile before turning to Hannibal. “Thanks again for the napkins. Enjoy your picnic.” 

She left and Hannibal followed her movements with his eyes. Will poured some juice for their son and smacked the doctor’s shoulder with a bit too much force when their son wasn’t paying attention. 

“I might not have the best social skills but you shouldn’t check out women in front of your boyfriend,” Will explained when Hannibal looked confused. 

“Don’t be preposterous, Will,” Hannibal said, a playful smile on his lips as he resisted the urge to rub the sting away. “I was only thinking that it’s been a while since I made baeckeoffe.”

“And what heinous act did she commit?” Will couldn’t help sounding sarcastic. 

“She is a vegan,” Hannibal said, with such distaste that Will laughed. 

“Your criteria is a bit lax,” Will shook his head and started plating the food for their son. 

“Daddy, can I go play?” Hanni asked, pointing to a group of kids his age running among other picnicking families. 

Will glanced at Hannibal, who nodded, before giving Hanni the okay to go play. Lunch was not going to get cold and he wanted Hanni to play with kids his own age. 

“She is not only a vegan but she is forcing the choice on her son,” Hannibal continued, to explain his distaste for the woman. “Dietary restriction, like religion should not be forced onto children by their parents. They should make their own decisions once they are knowledgeable on the subject.” 

“Like cannibalism?” Will teased. 

“Precisely,” Hannibal nodded, knowing that Will was only joking. Whenever cooking for the family, Hannibal always made his food separately. It was a precaution he took in case what he had done was ever found out. The doctor did not want his son to feel like he had in any way been involved in his papa’s actions. 

Other guests did not get such consideration. 

“You can’t have her,” Will finally shook his head. 

“Please?” Hannibal begged sweetly, inching closer to his lover. “There is so much I can use there. I won’t have to hunt for months!” 

“No,” Will said simply, with a pointed look. 

“Fine, have it your way,” Hannibal said, somehow managing not to sound like the petulant child that he looked like at the moment, as he laid his head in Will’s lap and continued to read. 

*2*

“No fucking way. You should have seen him,” the young woman at the table next Will and Hannibal spoke loudly into her phone. “What a fucking loser. I don’t know what my sister was thinking. So gross.” 

Laughter could be heard coming from the other end, and the girl’s companion asked her yet again to turn the speaker off and talk into the phone like a normal person.

“No, chill,” the girl laughed and spoke to the phone again. “Miss Manners over here is dying. Calm your balls down, Zoey.” 

The companion, Zoey, smiled through gritted teeth and tried not look annoyed or embarrassed.

“You can have her,” Will said with a head nod, indicating the girl on the phone. 

“Have her for what?” Hannibal said, scrunching his face up in disgust. He was glad that their lunch date did not involve their young son. Such language was not proper for the adult crowd, much less the young boy. 

“I don’t know. Breakfast, lunch and dinner?” Will answered with a shrug. He glanced over and frowned again, feeling shallow and full of undeserved sense of self entitlement. It would have been acceptable if he was looking at a teenager instead of a woman who was obviously in her mid-twenties. “Something fancy that pairs well with a dark beer.” 

Hannibal’s eyes traveled over the girl with medical accuracy, head shaking even before he was speaking. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to get more than a good stock from her bones. She is below a healthy weight for a girl her height.” 

“No surprise there,” Will rolled his eyes. “Stock it is. She destroys people from the inside and does not stop until they are nothing but hollow shells of their former selves. There’s nothing below the surface.” 

“Not worth the trouble,” Hannibal shook his head again, taking a sip of his coffee. 

“Hey, did you see the gay dude with the homeless guy?” The girl’s voice would only be considered a whisper compared to the volume she used before. She gave a nod towards Hannibal and Will to her mortified friend. “Which one would you fuck?” 

“I would consider it a personal favor,” Will spoke through clenched teeth. 

“Relax, Will,” Hannibal frowned disapprovingly at the young man. “You should not let yourself get consumed by those around you. We are not at a crime scene.” 

“I can’t always control it,” Will frowned. “I was trying to help you. And maybe the world.” 

Hannibal chuckled and Will gave a dramatic sigh that would fit better on the young woman a few feet away than on a grown man in his thirties. 

“Are you really not going to do it?” 

“I’m really not going to do it.” 

Will huffed into his coffee and fought the urge to throw a tantrum and storm out. 

Hannibal covered Will’s hand with his larger one, and caught his eyes. The younger man let the foreign emotions roll off him, as he suddenly remembered his hunger and returned his attention back to his lunch. 

*3*

They were in Barnes & Noble with an excited four year old pulling them towards the children’s books. Hanni was just as excited about book stores as he was about any toy store. 

“Papa, I want a book about dogs!” 

“I don’t know, sweet boy,” Hannibal did his best to sound serious. “I think your daddy already bought every single dog book ever printed.” 

“No,” Hanni shook his head and turned to Will with wide eyes. “Daddy, did you?” 

“Your papa is just teasing,” Will laughed and picked the boy up. “That’s really naughty, isn’t it?”

“Papa,” Hanni shook his head in disappointment. “Not nice.” 

While Hannibal was giving his most heartfelt apology to the little boy, a sound caught his attention. It was an odd groan, much like that of a child forced to do something he hates, but with a very adult voice in a very rude volume. 

Hannibal turned to see a very large man in the door way of the store, looking less than pleased at being there.

“Ant, stop that. We’re in public,” a young woman hissed at him. 

“What?” he whined. “No one heard me.” 

“I don’t want to hear it,” she glared at him. 

In response he made the sound again, just slightly lower this time. When she stormed off, his smile only grew as if annoying her brought him great pleasure. 

Hannibal’s attention returned to his family when Hanni tugged on his sleeve. He smiled at them and they made their way to the children’s section. 

“How many can I get?” Hanni asked, eyes wide as he scanned the familiar book shelves. 

“You can have three little ones or one big one,” Will told the boy. 

“Papa, what kind of book would you like?” Hanni asked. “You don’t like the doggy books as much as Daddy and me do.” 

Hannibal corrected the boy’s grammar before reassuring him that he would be happy with any book. 

The large man from earlier was a few aisles over. At about three hundred pounds he was hard to miss. With a nod to Will, Hannibal slipped away.

“How much longer?” Hannibal heard the man whine as he pretended to be interested in a random work of fiction. 

“I don’t know. A lot longer if you don’t leave me alone,” the girl snapped at him. “Go read a muscle magazine or something with naked girls.” 

“I don’t need that, I got you.” 

Next Hannibal heard a muted smack. Hand over clothing. Hannibal’s lip curled in disgust. 

“There’s Papa,” Will’s voice made Hannibal adopted a more child friendly expression. 

“Papa, don’t wonder off,” Hanni scolded. “Hold Daddy’s hand.” 

“I’m the Papa here,” Hannibal said, with mock sternness, making the boy hide behind his daddy’s legs with a giggle. 

“I hope you’re not considering that young man as a guest at our home,” Will said, with a knowing look in his eyes. 

“And if I was?” Hannibal asked, keeping his voice low. 

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Will said glancing past him towards where the younger man had followed his female companion. “But there’s a good chance he might break you. What is he? Like three hundred pounds?” 

“Over, actually,” Hannibal said, already taking that into consideration. 

“I think he’s a power lifter, not just some guy that enjoys extra servings at dinner. Did you notice the dark blue pants and the boots?”

“I did,” Hannibal nodded and discreetly looked over his shoulder again. It was another strike against the man. “Does that matter?” 

“Not on its own, but see that bit of light blue that’s sticking out from under the sweater? That’s the uniform for prison guards.” 

Hannibal frowned. “That shouldn’t matter.” 

Will glanced down at Hanni who was busying himself with the pictures on the covers of the books nearby. 

“He is licensed to carry a concealed weapon. It’s an unnecessary risk.”

“The man is a crude simpleton with no regard for his mate.”

“Her mate is her problem the same way my mate is my problem,” Will said, reaching out and gently running a hand over the older man’s shoulder. “I need you more than you need for him to no longer exist.”

“And this is in no way due to the fact that you doubt my ability to successfully defeat the young man?” 

“Of course not,” Will gave him a gentle, reassuring smile. 

The doctor gave the large man one final glance before giving up the idea and kneeling by his son. 

“Did you find all the books about dogs this fine establishment has to offer?”

“Daddy said I could only have three,” Hanni said and pulled one book out of the pile. “But Daddy said this one is for you.” 

Hannibal smiled down at the cover of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and swore to make his young lover pay for that. 

*4*

Will followed the sound of music and found his fiancé and son seated at the harpsichord, Hannibal’s hand guiding their son’s slowly over the keys. 

“Hanni, I need you to go play with Winston in your room,” Will said, interrupting the music lesson. 

“But we’re playing,” Hanni frowned up at him. 

“I need to speak to your father,” Will said, his voice not leaving room for arguments. 

Hanni looked up at his papa quickly and then clutched the older man’s hand. He could see his daddy was upset and he was suddenly very scared. “No. Are we going to leave again?”

Will felt himself flush. The break that that he and Hannibal had taken was only a few weeks ago. The first days after their return, Hanni watched them closely, afraid his parents were going to split up again. 

Hannibal pulled the boy close. “No one is going anywhere,” he reassured the boy and lifted him off the bench. “Go play, we’ll finish later. I promise.” 

Hanni gave his daddy a doubtful look but ran off before either man would have to repeat themselves. 

“Did you have to be so harsh?” Hannibal asked, curious at what could have caused the anger he had seen in his lover’s eyes when he first entered the room. 

“I -” Will shook his head. “We can talk about that later,” he stated and threw down a small white rectangle at Hannibal. “That fell out of your folder.” 

Hannibal frowned down at Alana’s business card and didn’t say anything. 

“What the hell, Hannibal?”

The doctor held the card in his hand, his thumb running over the name and contact information. 

“She was a dear friend. Someone I truly enjoyed spending my time with,” Hannibal said, not meeting Will’s eyes. “She betrayed all that. She tried to take you away.” 

“I want you to swear to me that you won’t hurt her,” Will said, his voice losing some of the edge but just as firm as ever.

Hannibal looked up at him blankly. 

“Hannibal, please,” Will said, coming to stand over him. “She made a mistake. It was just as much my fault as it was hers.” 

Hannibal looked up only to let him see his doubt. He knew Alana kissed him. He knew that Will kissed back. It’s clear who he held responsible. 

“I swear, if you hurt her I’ll -” 

Hannibal suddenly rose, towering over Will as he stepped over the bench and advanced on him.

“You’ll what, Will? Leave? Take our son and disappear? Call Crawford? What is it you’re willing to do to keep her safe, William? What are you willing to threaten me with for her sake?” 

“It’s -” Will was cut off as his back hit a wall and Hannibal stepped into his personal space, which, after all this time, was not very large. “Hannibal, please, it’s not like that. No, I don’t want her to die but it’s not about her. I can’t -” Hannibal’s hand covered his mouth to stop the flow of words. 

Will instantly stilled, but there was no fear there. 

Hannibal quickly moved away and walked into the hallway. A second later there was a distinct sound of small feet running on the stairs. 

Hannibal closed the door and leaned against it. Will came over but kept his distance. 

“You promised you would never do anything that would jeopardize your family,” Will reminded him. “She’s connected to us. There’s motive! If it came back to us, you’d be taking me down with you and then what would happen to our son?”

Hannibal looked back tiredly, reached out for Will’s hands, and brought him close. 

“I won’t let anything happen to you or our boy,” he swore, wrapping his arms around Will and holding on tightly. 

“I won’t let anything happen to us” had always been Will’s vow.

*1*

“Daddy, lift me,” Hanni said, jumping at the edge of the monkey bars. 

Will complied, lifting the boy high enough to grab the bars and then Hanni was off, until he reached the opposite end, yelling for Daddy to help him down. 

Hanni noticed a few kids he had met in the park on previous occasions and asked to go play with them. 

Will went to sit by Hannibal, shaking his head. “It begins. He’d rather play with his friends than his daddy.” 

Hannibal smiled up at him over his tablet and patted Will’s knee. “If it’s of any consequence, I prefer your company to most anybody.”

“Eh,” Will shrugged and laughed at the mock glare he received. “Do you have to be on that thing right now? You’re worse than a teenager.” 

Hannibal smiled, indulgent, and turned the tablet off. Work could wait. 

“Want to play on the monkey bars?” Will asked, cheeky grin and laughing eyes.

A few minutes later their playful flirting was interrupted by Hanni’s scream. Both fathers were up and by the boy in moments. Next to Hanni was a little girl, in tears, along with their son. 

“The big boy took Carli’s doll,” Hanni cried while clinging to Will.

Will moved their son over to Hannibal, who had been comforting the little girl. The girl’s mother was quickly making her way over to them and Will snuck off to find the older boy and his parents. 

He wasn’t hard to find - he was the only boy trying to destroy a doll. Once Will asked for it back, he ran to hide behind an older man.

“Hey, your kid took someone’s doll.” 

“Was it your son’s?” The man’s snort let Will know the man was fully aware of what his kid was doing. “Shouldn’t let your kid play with dolls. He’ll end up a sissy.”

“Thanks. Your parenting advice is much appreciated,” Will held out his hand. “Can you give it back now?” 

The man glared at him and Will took it all in. The lack of care for everyone. The lack of care for the kid that stood behind him. Didn’t even pretend to care for the one weekend every month that he was forced to see the child. There was a disconnect between him and the world. After his needs were taken care of, there was no one else. And he was going to make sure his needs were taken at any cost. Selfish, abusive, and downright mean. 

The man gave a disgusted snort, ripped the doll from his son’s grasp and threw it past Will’s shoulder with a dismissive “Fuck off.”

Will didn’t spare the man another moment, went to pick up the doll and dusted it off before returning it to the weeping girl. 

“Did the big boy get a time out?” Hanni asked, lifting his head off Hannibal’s shoulder. 

“I don’t know, baby,” Will told him. “But it’s all right, he won’t bother you again.” 

“I tried to stop him,” Hanni said softly. “He was too big.”

“That’s very brave of you,” Will said, with a touch of pride as he reached for the boy and took him from Hannibal. “But maybe we should just let your papa take care of it.” 

“Is that so?” Hannibal asked, brow raised. 

“Yes,” Will nodded. “Take care of it.”

Hannibal smiled and set back to observe his prey. He was going hunting.

**Author's Note:**

> I love hearing what you think!


End file.
